ATK Boston Eats Food Festival takes place Oct. 27 and 28, and will feature tastings, cooking demos and a backstage look at the test kitchens.

Greg Sullivan Herald News Staff Reporter

BOSTON – One mega project at a time? Sorry, that’s just not the America’s Test Kitchen style.

Even with finishing touches being put on its spacious new home in the Seaport District, America’s Test Kitchen this weekend is hosting its first “ATK Boston Eats Food Festival,” a two-day, three-session, taste bud- and mind-stimulating event Friday and Saturday. It all happens at ATK’s new headquarters/studios at the massive Innovation and Design Building, 15 and 21 Drydock Avenue. The event is presented by Reebok

“I’m so excited about it,” said ATK chef Dan Souza, also the editor-in-chief of ATK’s popular magazine Cook's Illustrated. “We just moved into our new space here in the Seaport and we’ve never done a food festival before. This space is completely new, so we decided in true ATK fashion, we just tackle everything. Let’s have a huge food festival the same month we move in.”

Session 1, Taste of Innovation, running on Friday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., will pair a dazzling lineup of Greater Boston’s top chefs with America’s Test Kitchen on-screen chefs. For example, Souza will be paired with Jeremy Sewall of Island Creek Oyster Bar and Les Sablons. Their assigned food is lobster. Each will prepare his own dish. Souza said he expects something fancy from Sewall while he will be offering ATK’s popular lobster roll. The best part? Ticket holders get to sample the dishes.

There will be seven of these pairings, and the session will be hosted by Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison, co-hosts of ATK’s two PBS TV shows, America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country.

Sessions 2 and 3 will be held on Saturday, with some overlap.

Backstage ATK, giving ticket holders a backstage look at the 55,000-square-foot facility, will run from both noon to 1:30 p.m. and again from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The four test kitchens alone cover 15,000 square feet, a 500 percent increase over test kitchen the space at ATK’s previous longtime facility in Brookline.

-- Behind-the-scenes presentation and book signing with Lancaster and Davison (this includes two recipe tastings).

Those buying tickets to this session will also have access to the third session, Boston Eats.

Boston Eats, running from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., will offer tastings from 40 top New England restaurants, including Saltie Girl, Area Four Boston, and Moody’s Delicatessen and Provisions. Also, Lancaster, Collin Davison, Souza and Molly Birnbaum will conduct cooking demonstrations.

In way, the festival all about America’s Test Kitchen finally saying hello to Boston, to its fans.

“Let people experience what we’re all about,” ATK Public Relations and Communications Director Brian Franklin said. “We’re a Boston company. And it’s great to be able to celebrate that with the local community. And combined with some of the local culinary experts and leaders in this city. It’s a wonderful celebration. And there’s a lot to celebrate.”

“It’s really awesome,” Souza said. “So basically what we’ve done for a long time is we’ve been doing recipe development and really focusing on food for 25 years. And we’ve been in this little spot in Brookline Village where we’ve just kind of dug in and been very, kind of, focused inward. So what’s really awesome about this move is we’re so much more a part of the Boston community.”

Ticket prices are $125 for Taste of Innovation, $100 for Boston Eats, and $350 for Backstage ATK (includes admission to Boston Eats). A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Future Chefs, a nonprofit organization that prepares urban youth for careers in the culinary arts; and Community Servings, a not-for-profit food and nutrition program providing services throughout Massachusetts to individuals and families living with critical and chronic illnesses.